1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile machine for receiving and distributing ballast supporting a railroad track, which comprises a machine frame having a longitudinal extension parallel to the track and supported on the track by undercarriages for mobility in an operating direction, a ballast conveying device arranged on the machine frame to receive ballast and to convey the received ballast to a discharge end of the device, and a ballast storage silo arranged on the machine frame to receive the conveyed ballast from the discharge end of the ballast conveying device and having ballast discharge opening means. The conveying device may comprise a rotary ballast broom and an obliquely ascending ballast conveyor adjacent thereto, the ballast conveyor having an input arranged to receive ballast swept up by the rotary ballast broom and an output forming the discharge end of the device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,160, dated Apr. 15, 1975, discloses a ballast regulator comprising a ballast plow arrangement mounted on a machine frame between two undercarriages supporting respective ends of the machine frame for mobility on a railroad track. The plow arrangement comprises a vertically adjustable center plow with plowshares pivotal for adjustment about a vertical axis to enable the ballast to be redistributed in any desired manner over the entire width of the ballast bed in a single pass of the machine. Laterally and vertically adjustable shoulder plowshares are associated with the center plow at each side of the machine frame for suitably shaping the ballast bed shoulders. A ballast storage silo is arranged on the machine frame between the rear undercarriage and the center plow, the silo having hydraulically operable ballast discharge opening means at an underside thereof so that ballast stored in the silo may be discharged onto the ballast bed in any track section which has too little ballast. A ballast conveying device comprising two rotary ballast brooms and an obliquely ascending ballast conveying band adjacent thereto, the ballast conveying band having an input end arranged to receive ballast swept up by the rotary ballast brooms and an output end forming the discharge end of the device, is mounted behind the ballast plow arrangement for conveying ballast to the silo. While such a ballast plow enables the amount of ballast along the track to be equalized, the small storage capacity of the silo leads to relatively short track sections having either too little or too much ballast after a certain number of such track sections have been plowed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,969, dated Jan. 17, 1984, discloses a rail-mounted ballast regulator machine with a vertically adjustable center plow mounted between the undercarriages and a rotary ballast broom arrangement at the rear end of the machine. An obliquely ascending ballast conveyor band receives ballast swept up by the broom and conveys the ballast to another conveyor band extending substanstially horizontally towards a front end of the machine and being pivotal about a vertical axis, the front end of the other conveyor band being adjustable to discharge the swept up and conveyed ballast into a preceding ballast transport car which may have a ballast storage hopper. While this machine makes it possible to store excess ballast in relatively large amounts, only relatively little ballast is stored for filling track sections with too little ballast.